I am looking for a used Bendix 2 speed kickback hub on ebay & need advice in locating one. I had 2 in my youth with the 3 red bands. I notice there are also ones with yellow or blue bands. What is the difference in band colors? Also, many listings for these 2 speed hubs have "NOS" in the description. What does that stand for?

NOS = New Old Stock. Means they are old, but still brand new.
The different color bands mean different ratios, but I can't tell ya what they are off the top of my head.

Thanks, Dan Burkhart, my questions answered perfectly!

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...there is this swell book that you can sometimes find in libraries that don't purge theri collections very often, entitled "Bicycle Service Manual, 2nd Edition". It was published in 1985 by Intertec Publishing Corporation, then located in Overland park Kansas. It has descriptions and servicing instructions, as well as assembly drawings and photos, of all the Bendix hubs, including the three two speed models.

Needless to say, it is a swell book, and the one I have has an honored place on my shelf of repair books out in the garage. the yellow band model was the "standard" model, which will shift to a gear where the shell rotates 35% slower than direct drive. The blue band model is called "automatic overdrive", and the shell will rotate 47% faster when you upshift it. Both of these have standard internal shoe brakes.

The red band model is the one most of us had as kids, and the gear ratios are the same as the yellow band. But it has an advanced internal system of "disc braking", instead of shoes.


If you get a hub on e-bay that is used, finding a copy of that book will probably help you out. Parts between the models are not always interchangeable.

thanks for info, 3alarmer

I now have a Sturmey Archer S2C 2 speed kickback hub in my cart on ebay. If i would order it, I will have to take it a step st a time to obtain the right sprocket, crank and chain, etc. to replace the derailleur system on my mountain bike. But more troubling is something I read somewhere a few years ago about how these replacements for the Bendix 2 speed hubs have been causing shifting troubles. Might anyone have any info on this?

Wow, this takes me back... I started my LBS life just as the Bendix kick back hubs were loosing favor. IIRC one of the 3 versions had a spring (formed flat sheet type) that would break often enough to be a known problem. Which version? Others might remember better.

The design issue I had with them was every time one used the brake one also shifted the gear. For better or worse... Andy

Thanks for reply, Mr. Stewart, and of course the 2 speed hubs I'm wondering about, if they are troublesome, are the Sturmey Archer ones, I had 2 Bendix Red Bands when I was young and never had any trouble with either of them.

...I could tell you about the one SRAM made and sold, but they seem to have stopped making them. Those were an excellent product, if you can find one NOS. I think maybe Sturmy Archer is the only game in town now.

...that spring thingy had a little tab on it that wore down. You could rebend the tab, and get some extra life out of it. It's named the retarder coupling.